31 May 2008 - racing 470's... they win!

7 nautical miles

Afternoon sail with Raed as crew. We went round the buoys a few times and chased the other boats. When sailing alongside the 470 we were neck and neck... till they started trapezing and then it was like they switched on afterburner! Gybed around one of the buoys and got a 'Bravo' from Nicos [sailing instructor].

Then sailed out with the trimaran from the club. I thought multi-hull boats were supposed to be fast, but we were much faster... I did everything I could think of to de-power the boat - let the mainsheet traveller out, flattened the main sail with the outhaul, spilled wind... but we were still faster. Eventually chatted with Tim [skipper of the trimaran] when we got back and he said it was slow. However, he is interested in cruising so maybe some longer trips in the future.

29 May 2008 - beautiful evening sail

9 nautical miles

Evening sail... starting at about 4:30pm till the wind dropped. Sailing with Neil and Paula and James was my crew. You can just see his head poking up over the fore deck. The wind was kind of strange in some ways, but the surfing was great.

When I got out on water and suddenly realised that the rear buoyancy tank was not secured. Must remember this in the future.

Also I found a twist in the main sheet. This was strange. I had noticed this with Daniel and we re-threaded it. Then suddenly realised that the block on the end of the boom is not secured and can twist round the boom and so that is why it happens. When it happens the main sheet doesn't run as freely as it should.

Tried goose-winging with the whisker pole, since the wind was still up but the waves dropping. Worked well except there wasn't really a place to secure the foot of the whisker pole. Ended up clipping it into a loop from the masthead buoyancy halyard. Now sometime I must try a spinnaker...

It was a lovely, gentle and very enjoyable sail this evening.

24 May 2008 - towards cape Pila

17 nautical miles

A wonderful sail today, the wind was great and we headed off towards Cape Pyla. We sailed alongside Blue. In the lighter winds going outward Galini sailed slightly faster, but as the winds picked up on the return trip Blue was faster than us, tending to plane more. Galini being the Wayfarer and Blue a Laser 16. We got to within 4 nautical miles of the cape before turning back for lunch. The total trip was 13 nautical miles [24 kilometres].

In the afternoon we went out for an hour, just sailing around after the Lasers [not shown on the map].

17 May 2008 - towards Dheklia Sailing Club

12.5 nautical miles

Took Matt and Joe out today. Morning [cyan track] was very gentle winds. Went back and forth taking photos of Blue. The sailed off down the bay... we got to within 1 nautical mile of Dhekelia sailing club, but there were no dingies out today. Let Matt and Joe have a go sailing her. Sailed past a couple of yachts. First one was smallish and gorgeous, second [which we got very close to and I took over helm for that reason] was large and fabulous.

Then went in for lunch and helped Neil and Paula put Blue on her side so they could do some gellcoat repairs to the centreboard case.

After lunch [yellow track] we chased the lasers around a little then went in to help Neil and Paul put Blue back in the water and take Matt back to the theatre for a show he was running.

16 May 2008 - mainsheet traveller problem

7 nautical miles

Just a gentle sail up and down the coast with Maurice and Gill. Nobody at the club so pulled the boat out of the water with the car.

Found that one of the ends of the mainsheet traveller rail had cracked. I mad moulded this out of fibgreglass gellcoat. Obviously it is too brittle for when the boom gets plonked on top [is plonked technical word for it?]. So will change it again.

9 May 2008

5 nautical miles

Today was a trip for the wrinklies... Sue's Dad, his second wife and her aunt... except that her aunt chickened out as she put her toes in the water and decided it was too cold. So it was just two short trips out and around with Sue's Dad and his second wife.

The wiggly bit in the middle is where his hat blew off and we tried to retrieve it!

3 May 2008 - gentle morning, blustery afternoon

11 nautical miles

The day started out with almost no wind. In fact Raed and I were paddling a little to make sure we didn't drift back onto the shore. The cyan line waggling away from the shore shows how little there was. The morning was very gentle and we just sailed back and forth enjoying being away from the computers and on the sea. We had the bay to ourselves. Then we went in for lunch.

The wind picked up and out came the Lasers. So after lunch [the yellow track] we chased them around for an hour before it became too blustery to carry on. The wind and waves were exciting. coming back to land I misjudged bringing up the centre-board and ran the boat aground.

1 May 2008 - gentle and fun sail

estimate 12 nautical miles

May day is a public holiday in Cyprus. The communist society march through the town to bands and the rest of us have a day off. As an aside, these are right wing communists, nothing like the communists of Eastern Europe that I knew of old.

So... I took a day off sailing. Richard [yes, both of us were Richard today] and I sailed up to the beach past the fishing village. Had a bite for lunch and then sailed back.

The wind was against us sailing outward and with us sailing back. I find sailing with the wind more difficult than against the wind. Neil had suggested that gybing was not good for the standing rigging of the dinghy, and suggested going about through 270 degrees instead. My standing rigging needs replacing... but next year. Anyhow, this going about through 270 degrees is pretty difficult I found, especially when the waves were against us - what tended to happen was I tried to go about and then the waves would push us back. So to start with I would try to go about and the waves would push us back and I'd end up on the same broadreach, with a kind of muddle in the middle.

What I eventually found is that the way was to bring down the centreboard, change from broad reach to tack and then go about and then back to broad reach and then bring centreboard up... preferably all in one smooth movement. Nearly got it licked by the end.

Richard graciously said that he learnt more by seeing me do it wrong and learning than he would seeing someone do it right first time!

When we got back the 470s had been out and they said they had been out all day. Claimed to have been to the airport and back... twice! [...and stopped for a beer at Finicoudes!] I chatted further about the sailing with them. We talked about capsizing - they were askance that I hadn't yet, and then mentioned that they do regularly and have lost a lot of stuff that way. I'm not sure that 'losing a lot of stuff' sounds a great idea, and after what happened with Neil and Paula I am not at all sure its a good idea. Later in the season we will do a deliberate capsize to check everything works on the masthead bouyancy etc, but not while the sea is so cold.

We talked about spinakers too - maybe one day I will go out on one of the 470s and see how its done.